Come in From the Cold
by Mad-Hamlet
Summary: Pain, betrayal, death, blood and birth. A lot can happen in twenty months.
1. Cold Snap

Disclaimer: (Buckling under the pressure.) These characters are not my own. They are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi. I'm merely using them.{Authors voice takes demonic edge while his eyes begin to glow}.Distorting, twisting, changing them at my whim.. dance puppets..DANCE!!! (I obey the letter of the law, not the spirit.)

Drain Bramaged Inc. Presents,

A Mad-Hamlet Production

General Advisory: This fic is...not nice. Dark would be a good term. Yes, we'll go with Dark. I suppose a heavy lime label could also be slapped on it. However as I equate 'lime' as somewhat erotic it wouldn't apply here as some of the goings-on herein are so far from erotic the light from Erotic will never, ever reach it.

Come in From the Cold

She hovered near the entrance of an alleyway. No other place seemed appropriate to one such as her. Here she hid in the darkness, surrounded by waste. Breeding ground for pain and betrayal. Things she knew well.

It was dark, always so very very dark. It was part of her, she held it in her arms, her heart..her soul. She was in black, void; cold...she was dark. 

Soon though, soon she would find her light, all she had to do was wait. Her light would pass here soon and the Dark would be pressed back. Her light would help her, would protect her, and with her light, the wounds would heal. She could feel them, great gaping maws in her soul. Tattered edges flapping like old clothing in a storm. But they would heal, would heal and be whole, in the warmth, in the light. Wouldn't they? 

Chubby little hands fumbled at her breast, seeking comfort and nourishment. She had to push they away though, for she had neither to give. All she could do was hide in the alleyway and wait for her. Her light.

Eighteen year old Akane Tendo trudged home from yet another day at Furinkan High, alone. Like she had for nearly twenty months now. Soon she would be going to a University and putting more and more distance between her and the past. At almost twenty she felt she had quite a past to distance herself from. At least when compared to other young adults.

Her eyes idly drifted to a chain link fence that ran parallel to the canal and for just a brief instant she allowed herself to remember a certain arrogant, yet naively charming, young man who could walk along it like she did upon the sidewalk. Mental defenses and old anger slammed down on any affectionate reminiscing. He had disappeared nearly two years ago, and taken with him love, dreams, and respect. Proving himself to be, much to her regret, much like his father. Her good mood now thoroughly crushed she began stalking home in great angry strides. Her jaw was clenched tight and between her teeth she was muttering a litany of curses that would have made a sailor blanche. It had all been said before but it didn't help the pain much. It still hurt, even after twenty months, ninety-nine weeks...six hundred and ninety-nine days...sixteen thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six hou- she almost didn't hear the voice calling her name. 

"Kane....". 

Akane spun on her heel and dropped into a defensive crouch. Instincts honed on the battlefield called 'school'. The foe was not one she had anticipated. The...person was lurching out from the maw of a darkened ally. Covered by, what might have been at one time, a cloak? It once had been dark purple but the color had long been destroyed by stains, time and...was that blood? His features obscured by a mangy hood. Then the smell hit her and Akane had to visibly struggle not to recoil. Whoever he was hadn't bathed for a very long time. The stench of waste, garbage H brow creased- pain assailed her. The figure held out one hand in a plaintive gesture or maybe he was seeking some support to rest against. Either way Akane wasn't about to let some stranger paw at her. 

"Back off!" She warned.

"Akane, no...please...." The figure's voice was hoarse, tired and desperation seemed to echo. Akane got the impression the stranger barely had strength enough to speak much less stand. He kept lurching toward her though.

"I'm warning you! Another step and you'll regret it!"

Akane didn't want to hurt this person, whoever he was, but she was prepared to defend herself, even though it had been a while since she had gotten much practice. 

"Akane..help.....hel...me..." The figure slumped to the ground. Akane slightly relaxed out of her stance.

"Great." She thought. "Now what?"

She wiped the nervous sweat from her brow with the back of one hand and looked around to see if there was anyone around who might help her. The street was deserted though and she wasn't about to check the recesses of the ally. She was on her own.

She approached cautiously, just in case a game of possum was being played. It wasn't like she could just abandon someone in pain. 

"A true martial artist defends the weak. Defends the weak...the weak...defends...martial artist, defends the weak...defends.." 

The mental litany ran through her mind as she took another hesitant step forward. She wrinkled her nose as a fresh wave of stench assailed her. 

She cautiously knelt beside the prone individual who was laying face down with the one arm still outstretched. Akane slowly reached out toward their shoulder with the intent of giving them a good shake when a weak cry rent the air. 

Akane cursed under her breath upon hearing it.

With little fanfare Akane gently turned the figure over, all hesitation cast to the winds. Parting the wretched fabric that passed for a cloak Akane saw that the mysterious woman, for now that cloak lay open the mangy shirt did little to hide the gender of its wearer, still held her other arm curled to her breast. Cradled in that protective embrace lay an infant. 

Cooing softly Akane slowly pried the woman's death grip open and pulled the child into her lap. 

"Come here little one." Akane soothed. "Shhh...I've got you, don't cry. You're safe."

Carefully she pulled the baby closer to her chest and got her first good look. Her breath caught in her throat. 

It could have been because the child had stopped crying and was now staring at her with a carefully scrutinizing expression. Or it could have been the fact that the child's stare was so unnerving; as the child had one blazing blue eye and its mate was a deep, ominous purple. But no, the real attention getter was the shock of pure, blazing red hair that curled across the infant's head.

Turning to the still unconscious figure Akane firmly grabbed the hood that concealed her features. 

"I don't know why." Akane thought. "But I'm not surprised."

Still holding the child with one arm Akane hesitantly reached down and slowly caressed the emaciated, tired, and thoroughly female face of Ranma.

"KAAASSUUMMIIII!!" 

Startled by the unexpected shout the eldest Tendo daughter lost control of the knife for a fraction of a second and was rewarded with a small cut. Hissing at the pain she quickly tied a handkerchief around the wound before entering the living room. 

"Yes Akane?" She asked calmly. "What's wr-" The question died on her lips. Kasumi saw her youngest sister carefully laying a figure on some cushions. That in itself was not all that strange. In the past Kasumi had seen plenty of unconscious people stretched out on those selfsame cushions. Though some time had passed since the last one. No what robbed Kasumi of the breath to speak was everything she saw at once. The figure's red hair, the baby still curled, protectively by Akane, also with flaming red hair. 

Kasumi took one look at the baby, then a quick glance at Ranma, then another back at the baby. She shook her head in slight denial at that line of thinking.

"Oh my goodness." Kasumi exclaimed. "Ranma, what's happened to him?"

"I don't know Kasumi." Akane replied. Her anxiety clearly heard. "She..he..just came out of an alleyway at me on the way home! I didn't know who it was at first but when they collapsed I heard the baby cry and ... and..." 

Akane's voice dwindled. Kasumi sympathized with her sister. She too had, once again, been yanked out of her emotional equilibrium by this sudden twist in life. But the storm she felt must be nothing compared to what Akane must have been going through right now.

"First things first Akane." Kasumi had to raise her voice slightly as the child decided to start crying again. "Give me the baby, I'll go warm some milk up. Why don't you get Ranma out those..'clothes'."

With an almost wistful look on her face Akane carefully handed the still squalling baby to her sister. Then, with her face set in determination turned to conquering her next foe: The incredibly smelly garments of the still comatose Ranma Saotome. 

Kasumi was carrying the child in the crux of her arm and just had grabbed a bottle of milk from the fridge when the second scream of the afternoon sent it crashing to the floor. 

"OH GOD, NO!!" The shriek rang throughout the house. 

Kasumi, as quickly as she dared, rushed back to the living room.

"Akane! What's wro-" For the second time this day the same question died on Kasumi Tendo's lips. If she hadn't been holding a helpless infant Kasumi would probably have fainted at the hellish scene before her. As it was, she had to grit her teeth to fight off the wave of dizziness and nausea swam over her. 

Akane, in her typical efficient manner, had decided the best way to remove Ranma's clothing was the direct approach and had torn the shirt open down the middle. From the neck up, other than appearing filthy and slightly starved Ranma appeared perfectly fine. It was the scaring that began just below her collarbone that demanded attention. Kasumi's eyes followed the curving of the scar tissue as it twisted to the right and neatly bisected Ranma's left breast, leaving it a mangled horror of tissue, before continuing down the sternum and finally tapering off just above her navel. The scar tissue was at least an inch wide over the breast leaving no doubt, even to those with zero medical understanding, that when it had been received, the wound had nearly cut the breast in twain. 

Kasumi found herself completely numb. The hysterical sobbing of her sister didn't reach her; the cries from the babe she carried didn't touch her. She could only stand and watch. Watch as Akane, still sobbing, with her fists pressed over her mouth, sank to her knees beside her former fiancé.

Watch as with a shriek of her own, Ranma sat bolt upright with fire, and fury burning in her eyes. Watch as the panicked, topless figure lashed out instinctively and backhanded her youngest sister across the room before leaping at her with another shriek on her lips.

Akane slammed against the wall, blood leaking from her split lip. Lights danced in front of her eyes but she ignored them and focused on the events going on beyond the lights. She watched the berserk redhead hurtling at Kasumi with her hands pulled back in a killing blow. Akane had to react, protect her sister, stop Ranma, do something!

"Move you stupid tomboy, MOVE!" Screamed Akane's mind.

But there was no time..no damn time. 

A flicker of purple. 

Akane realized things had changed.

Ranma now pinned beneath someone who had not been there a second before, still screaming.

Kasumi losing balance to land on her butt with a slight 'whoof'.

The screaming of the child.

Ranma screaming.

Child screaming.

And Akane realized she was screaming along with the others. A final voice in the chorus.

Kasumi now was sobbing as she squeezed the baby closer. 

Everyone still screaming...

It took a few seconds for some semblance of coherence to reassert itself in Akane's mind. She took in again the scene before her and, in that bizarre way that people in a crisis do, calmly took stock of the situation.

Kasumi crying? Check.

Baby crying? Check.

Ranma screaming? Check.

Strange person standing in her home restraining said screaming Ranma? Check.

"Gee," Akane thought to herself. "Seems things are getting back to normal."

Akane screaming? No.

"Well that's good." She decided.

Akane's head ringing while pain carved new and interesting patterns along her nervous system? Check.

"Well that's diffrent. Never actually got hurt before, specially by Ranma."

With the grey matter reporting that, while she hurt, everything seemed to be in working order, automatic reactions shut down letting Akane resume a little more control of herself. Time unfroze.

"Kasumi!" With a shout Akane rushed to her sister's side.

"Kasumi, talk to me..are you alright?" Akane demanded. 

She gripped her sister's shoulders and gave her a firm shake.

"Kasumi!"

Kasumi blinked a few times while slowly pulling back from that black place minds flee too when they are sure they are about to die.

"Akane?" She inquired weakly.

"Akane you're hurt!" She exclaimed while grasping Akane with her free hand. "Let me see that."

Kasumi began to make fussying noises while trying to make a closer examination of Akane's condition.

The baby was still screaming. 

"I'm fine Kasumi." Akane replied, slightly annoyed. "The question is: Are you all right"

Kasumi paused as if considering this. She unconsciously began to lightly jog the baby in effort to get it to stop crying. Seeming to come to a decision Kasumi nodded slightly and reached out for assistance from Akane.

Awkwardly, as if unsure of her limbs still being there, Kasumi allowed Akane to pull her to her feet. She swayed a bit but remained stubbornly upright. 

In an odd coupling Ranma's continued shrieks mingled well with those of the child's. 

"Kasumi, go to the kitchen, take care of the baby." Akane ordered, practically shoving her sister in the right direction. Nodding numbly, still somewhat lost in a fugue, Kasumi complied and vanished into her shelter. Akane could now afford to focus her attention on Ranma and the stranger still pinning her to the ground. 

Ranma was bucking and writhing, trying to get free but was held firmly by a white-knuckled grip. Akane became aware of the strange sing song language the stranger was using, it sounded like she was trying to console the struggling redhead. 

The intruder was dressed simply enough. A plain black T-shirt with a brown travelling vest over it providing basic protection from the elements. The silk pants were also of simple design being an unoriginal dark grey.

The gender of the stranger was easy to guess at as her breasts strained against the T-shirts fabric, that and the long-

Akane's eyes narrowed. The stranger's long ponytail hung to the small of her back, but that wasn't what got Akane's attention. The ponytail was a bright, purple color. 

Her fists instinctively closed. Akane, in the privacy of her own mind alone, could admit she wasn't the most observant person in the world. But she knew the amazons had disappeared from Nerima at the same time Ranma had, and now that Ranma was back, so were they?

Akane's aura snapped on faster than G.E's best product and through clenched teeth the name hissed out in a tone that embodied pure, black hatred. 

"Xian Pu!"

Without looking over her shoulder the so identified intruder said "No. Not Xian Pu. Xian Pu dead. I kill Xian Pu."

"Cut the crap Xian Pu, I know its you. You can change your hair all you want but life isn't like a soap opera, there are no 'long lost twins'."

"I NOT XIAN PU!" The purple-haired girl practically shouted. "Xian Pu dead. Her name dead, Xian Pu as Amazon dead. There no more Xian Pu!"

Akane almost took a step back. If that was true than that meant... 

Her thoughts were interrupted.

The girl visibly swallowed her anger. "Akane, please. Sit. No shout at me. Wait. I explain later. We help Ranma now. Explain later."

Akane blinked a few times. Xian Pu had been polite...called her by name..and not referred to Ranma as 'airen.' Reluctantly Akane slowly knelt next to where Ranma lay pinned.

Her ex-fiancé by this time had exhausted herself trying to break free. She lay spent and gasping, her chest heaving with effort. The light coming in from outside cut a wicked bask relief over her scarred chest, revealing in all too realistic detail the puckering of the flesh and myriad discoloration; again Akane felt tears threatening to spill over. 

Ignoring the drama going on beside her the purple haired girl firmly grasped Ranma's head and forced the redhead to look at her. 

"Peace Ranma." She intoned. "Quiet. Shhh..you safe. Baby safe. Ranma safe. Shhh..Good Ranma."

With a gurgling sound Ranma attempted to wrench her head away, her eyes swirling widly in their sockets. Xian Pu gave Ranma a fierce shake forcing her to reestablish eye contact. 

"Ssshhh..." She started again. "Sshh..Ranma. Look. Look who here. You find her Ranma. You find Akane."

Akane gave a small start. Ranma had been looking for her?

"Look Ranma..Akane's here. See?"

Slowly, with her hands guiding her Ranma turned her head to look at Akane seated beside her. Akane met that gaze with difficulty. Staring into those wild, insanity filled eyes brought back memories; memories of a fanged boy screaming the words 'Because of you've I've seen Hell!'. Somehow Akane now doubted the Lost Boy's claims. The specter before her, she had seen Hell, mayhaps even stayed there for a while. Akane met Ranma's gaze and looked at her. Looked at her eyes, saw into her eyes. Sadness met pain, grief met hurt, and betrayal greeted betrayal. 

An understanding was reached.

Ranma's mouth opened and closed a few times. She closed her eyes for a few seconds then tried again.

"A..Akane?" 

"Right here..I'm here." She reached out slowly and lay a hand on Ranma's shoulder.

"Really..Akane? Not another dream? Really real? Really really real?"

Xian Pu (Who was not Xian Pu) nodded and softly replied, "Is so Ranma. Is real. No dream now, you home. That is Akane. Baby here too. Safe now, we all safe now."

"Yes," Akane agreed. "You're safe Ranma I'm right here with you." 

The hand moved up to cup the redhead's cheek and Ranma's eyes fluttered at the sensation. 

"Really real.." She muttered. "Akane's really real..She's real..she's realshe'srealshe'srealshe'srealrealRealREAL....AKANE!!!"

Ranma tossed the purple haired ex-amazon aside like flypaper.

Xian Pu impacted the far wall at the exact same time Akane found herself with a double armload of half-naked, crying martial artist. 

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry Akane, please..I'm sorry." Ranma wrapped herself around Akane, burying her face in Akane's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She kept saying. Over and over, and Akane had no idea what to do, or say or think. She did the only thing she could. Pulling Ranma closer, so the smaller girl was cradled in her lap, Akane started rocking slowly, back and forth.

"Shhhh...." She began.

"Sorry, so sorry."

"Shhh..its alright."

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

"Sorry, please, I'm sorry."

" It's ok, it's ok...shhhh....."

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

" I forgive you Ranma."

Stop.

"You..mean it?" Came the querulous reply. 

Akane nodded. "Yes. I forgive you, for everything."

"Now if only I could figure out what I was forgiving you for." Akane thought to herself.

Fate did not give her the opportunity to reflect on this mystery however.

"I love you Akane." And before Akane's mind could even register 'The Words', before she could even begin to consider a reply to 'The Words' Ranma had pulled her head down and kissed her. 

It was quite a kiss. Ranma's tongue danced between her lips and feelings coursed through Akane's mind; new sensations tingled along nerve endings she had not known she had. 

It was sweet, and hungry, with a blazing fire coursing along her spine, yet at the same time icy chills swept along beside the heat. Fire and ice all wrapped up in a lovely package of sensation with tiny motes of pleasure sweeping along her flesh. She was lost in the swirling miasma of new sensation and powerful emotions that consumed mental barriers like a fireball would a forest. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the kiss ended and Akane hung there, savoring the moment. Ranma was resting her head on Akane's shoulder, a small smile on her face and a light rumbling sound at the back of her throat. Almost like a purr. 

Pride, anger and pain came screaming back with reinforcements. They roared across Akane's mind, sweeping aside facts like Ranma's condition, her confession of love and the pleasant activities afterwards.

He had kissed her! When she was a girl!! 

Ranma had hit her and almost hit Kasumi! How DARE he?

After vanishing for two years he think he can just waltz back into their lives with a smile and a wink? After leaving with the..the...Amazon?

Akane began to get angry, her muscles tensed and a sneer started to ripple across her face, she opened her mouth to scream and cocked an all to ready fist to strike down the offender.

An iron claw clasping her shoulder stopped her cold.

Turning she came eye to eye with Xian Pu whose face was no more than an inch away from her own. 

"I know what you thinking." Xian Pu hissed into Akane's ear.

"And I know you wrong. Ranma tell truth. Ranma love you, Ranma die for you, Ranma already been through Hell. Worse part is, Xian Pu take her there. Now she back. You say you forgive, you say she safe. Now you want to hurt? You hurt Ranma, she die. If Ranma die," She paused for emphasis. "You I kill!"

Akane listened to the words, but she focused on the eyes. Words can lie, but eyes... Xian Pu's eyes glowed with all the warmth of the coldest side of a frozen rock. They held but a promise, no compassion, no humanity, just one single promise.

Believe or die.

Akane believed.

"She tell you the truth, she loves you." Xian Pu pressed on. "Now you tell her truth. No lie to her, no lie to self. Do so, now." She squeezed Akane's shoulder painfully hard to add weight to her command. 

Akane nodded dumbly and looked at Ranma who, during the hushed conversation, had turned to look up at Akane. 

Those large... huge, impossibly huge, blue eyes bored into Akane. They were... uncomfortable for Akane to gaze into. The Eyes are windows to the soul it is said. Well, these eyes showed a soul that had been brutalized, bent, wasted, crushed, clawed, beaten and a used by a large host of nightmares.

Yet still that soul kept hoping, and loved and still waited. Waited for her.

She couldn't deny it. Pride died first, wailing and screaming into the blackness of her mind, banished for the meantime. Anger was next, now crushed by that incredible will it had regularly fed on and used for its own ends. She gulped audibly.

"I..." She began.

Those eyes bore into her.

"I...I lov..."

Bore, bore, bore.

"I love you too Ranma."

Ranma's eyes snapped shut and she slumped in Akane's arms. Surprised Akane saw Xian Pu removing her finger from a particular spot on Ranma's neck. 

"She rest now." Xian Pu explained. "Rest for first time in weeks. Maybe, now knowing how you feel, she finally rest well, rest deep."

She paused and gazed at Ranma's now slumbering form still in Akane's arms. "Yes, Ranma finally able to sleep."

Xian Pu sat down, indian style directly across from Akane. "And while she sleep," Her eyes narrowed. "We talk Akane Tendo. We talk."

End Cold-01

Authors notes: Welcome to chapter one of my newest project. Ok so it's not much bigger than the teaser. That's ok though as I've already started working on chapter 2. No this does not mean COS has been forgotten. Actually after I post this I'll begin typing out COS 1.4 at last. This is, as I've mentioned, my first attempt at 'Dark Fiction'. I'm trying to set the mood her y'know and if there is anything here that destroys that feeling that I've missed in proofing it and having it proofed, let me know. My goal is a story that would have Torquemada running from the room, screaming. (Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

If the C&C isn't positive or I get people telling me to chuck it and go back to COS.... Nahhh... I'll write em' both! 

I remain, as always,

Mad-Hamlet


	2. Glacier

Disclaimer: (Buckling under the pressure.) These characters are not my own. They are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi. I'm merely using them.{Authors voice takes demonic edge while his eyes begin to glow}.Distorting, twisting, changing them at my whim.. dance puppets..DANCE!!! (I obey the letter of the law, not the spirit.)

Drain Bramaged Inc. Presents,

A Mad-Hamlet Production

General Advisory: This fic is...not nice. Dark would be a good term. Yes, we'll go with Dark. I suppose a heavy lime label could also be slapped on it. However as I equate 'lime' as somewhat erotic it wouldn't apply here as some of the goings-on herein are so far from erotic the light from Erotic will never, ever reach it.

Come in From the Cold 

Chapter 2

The two girls sat across from each other. On the left one still dressed in her mandatory school uniform, on the right the other in light traveling clothes. The one in the clothes sat with her legs crossed, arms folded over her chest, her back ramrod straight. The light breeze that blew in from the yard played with her Lung, braided hair that swung free. The other girl, with her short, pageboy haircut, sat equally stiff. Her arms were not folded across her chest, instead embracing a third young woman who slept peacefully. The idle wind also teased the hair of the young girl just home from school. 

The Dreamer in her lap was ignorant of anything. 

The traveler.

The schoolgirl.

The breeze. 

The mental war raging between the two seated women; she slept the sleep of the blessed. After having been damned for so Lung, she deserved it.

Akane's fierce gaze met a wall of indifference from the self proclaimed ex-Amazon. By will aLune she tried to convey nearly two years of hurt, tears, betrayal and hatred. She wanted to share her loathing for the girl in front of her, how little she trusted her and how, if the day ever came, she'd dance on the ex-Amazon's corpse and prepare it for burial with an axe and rusty spade. 

It didn't work. 

With an exasperated sigh Akane spoke first. "Alright, you said we'd talk. We've been sitting her for five minutes Xia-." Akane bit her tongue. She tried again. 

"What should I call you?"

The formerly named Shan Pu gave a twitch that could have been interpreted as a shrug. 

"Xiaoyu. It good enough for now."

"Fine, whatever, why did Ranma run away?"

Xiaoyu cocked her head to one side. "You sure you is Akane?" She asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The anger, which had been banished mere moments before, began to creep back into her Akane's voice.

"What Xiaoyu mean is, she call you pervert, and kitchen destroyer, she even call you stupid. Never think Akane stupid though. Maybe Xiaoyu should reconsider?"

The storm broke. Akane wanted to rise to her feet. To smash and destroy, to let vent her fury upon this hateful bitch before her and annihilate her enemy, utterly, from the face of creation. She shifted her weight, preparing to follow through on those desires. It was fortuitous for all involved that just at that moment Ranma chose to shift a little in her sleep. Her hands instinctively gripped a loose fold of Akane's skirt as she began to mumble. 

"Kane...love....knew you...light, finally...light."

Distracted, Akane gazed down at her charge, her features softened and she gently brushed an errant lock of crimson hair from in front of the redhead's face.

"Ranma-no-Baka." She whispered affectionately.

Wherever she was, whatever she was seeing, Ranma must have heard her for, even still asleep, a smile crossed her face. 

Xiaoyu watched this exchange of feelings seemingly unmoved, but inside, deep inside the Chinese girl, the wall crumbled.

It had not been the anger of Akane, or the waves of numbing guilt that had assaulted her dreams for over a year. These foes had flung themselves helplessly against her mental fortress, having all the effect a speck of dust has upon a storm. Now the feelings she saw before her were different. They had not attacked her, she, in fact, was simply not a factor. All she had done was get in their way. Knowing that, knowing that she, Xiaoyu, had stood in the way of this love, had nearly prevented this glorious joy, knowing this added to the weight of her existing sins, a thousand by a thousand times. 

It broke her.

It shattered her.

It crushed her.

It freed her.

At last she could cry.

Akane glanced up at Xiaoyu. Her posture had not changed; she still sat perfectly still and tall, but where she had appeared cold and aloof a moment before, now tears ran silently down her face.

"Xiaoyu ..is..." Xiaoyu choked out then stopped.

She bowed her head for a moment then raising it up again met Akane's gaze.

"I am very sorry for the pain I have brought on you, your family, and your loved ones."

With that said Xiaoyu, bending only at the waist, bowed before Akane. 

Akane was a little flustered, first Ranma had returned, scarred terribly, and with a child of all things. Shan Pu had followed after insisting she be called Xiaoyu and now she was speaking perfect Japanese and apologizing! Akane was kind of hoping she'd have been an irritating hussy, then, at least, some things could have been considered 'normal.' 

Focusing on Xiaoyu, still bent over at the waist, Akane returned the bow to a lesser extent and formally responded. 

"I accept your apologies Xiaoyu but again respectfully ask to the events that lead to Ranma's disappearance and left him in such a state."

Xiaoyu fought back the urge to shudder. The story she had to relate was not going to be pleasant for anyone, the listener or the storyteller. Hopefully she who the story was about would remain asleep and escape having to revisit the memories. She doubted she'd live to complete the tale but she had to fulfill the request, as honor demanded.

"It begins with the fact, Akane," Xiaoyu continued in flawless Japanese. "That Ranma did not run away. He was taken. As you as probably guessed we took him, Ke Lun and myself. You probably thought as much hundreds of times since all of us disappeared twenty months ago. After the disaster at your 'wedding' Ke Lun lost all patience with guile and subtlety. Shan Pu being such a stupid child did exactly as she was told without so much as a whisper of protest. She honestly believed that what she was doing was for the best and even if it wasn't nothing mattered so Lung as she got her 'Airen'."

As she spoke, her mind wandered back to that day, one now she cursed almost above all others.

Ranma marched home. It had been a good day, which was a rarity in his life, though it was happening with a bit more frequency. Even Akane's announcement that she was cooking dinner hadn't failed to sway his good mood. The two had been getting along much better the past few weeks, Akane herself seemed a genuinely happier person. 

"Who knows?" Ranma thought to himself. "Maybe it'll finally reflect on her cooking?"

A cheerful "Nihao, Airen" interrupted his musings. 

With a mental groan, Ranma turned to the ever-bouncy Amazon. 

"Hey, Shampoo." He mumbled. 

"Airen come to Nekohanten? Have too too delicious Ramen with wife?"

Shampoo had bounced to a stop directly in front of Ranma. Her fists were bunched under her chin. The happy smile and large, innocent eyes glistening in the sun made her appear a picture of cuteness; if you went for that sort of thing. 

Ranma began to reply in the negative when his stomach caught up with his mouth. 

"Shampoo's Ramen versus Akane's Cooking." He mused. "Well, Akane's cooking has been getting... more cooperative. But..."

"Well...promise no tricks?" He asked.

With an eager nod Shampoo replied, "Yes, yes, Shampoo promise on honor, no tricks." 

His mind ran with that, receiving encouragement from his appetite. 

"If I eat Akane's food I'll probably be knocked out, both by the food and Akane. If I eat some ramen with Shampoo at most I'll be knocked out once and won't be too hungry afterwards."

"Okay." Ranma said. "Let's go. Just ramen though."

"Shampoo so happy!" She giggled with a bounce. "Come come, follow Shampoo!"

A few minutes later Shampoo entered into the Nekohanten with Ranma walking through the door a second later. Shampoo vanished into the kitchen, calling back she was getting the "too too delicious meal for her airen." 

Ranma idly noticed Mousse standing behind the counter wiping it down with a wet rag. 

"Heh," Ranma thought. "The two ladies must have been beatin' on him pretty good for him not to attack me simply for bein' here."

Cologne, hopping on her staff, bounded out of the kitchen a second later to stop in front of Ranma.

"Welcome Son-in-law. Please have a seat." She gestured to one of the nearby tables. 

Ranma eyed the matriarch carefully for a moment but slowly sat down. 

As Ranma took a seat Cologne hopped onto the table.

"Well, Son-in-law it is fortuitous that you came to us today."

"Oh yeah? How's that?" Ranma replied. "And I ain't your Son-in-law." he shot out as an afterthought. 

Ranma glanced around the room. Save for him and the Amazons it was empty. 

A slight buzzing began at the back of his mind.

Cologne dismissed Ranma's protests with a wave of her hand. "Your status is neither here nor there right now, it would seem that we need your help, Son-in-law. We have a problem that only you can aid us in." 

"I knew it," Ranma thought. "Just ramen, riiiggghhtt."

Still looking about the room Ranma nonchalantly replied, "An' what's the problem then?" 

"Man," He thought to himself. "this place is kinda creepy bein' all quiet- Quiet? It's silent in here! Restaurants are never silent, there's always somethin' cookin' or-" 

Ranma's eyes locked on Mousse. The Chinese boy was studiously ignoring him seemingly involved in his task of cleaning the countertop. The same spot on the countertop, the same spot he had been cleaning since Ranma had entered. Then Cologne's words registered.

"Restoring Shan Pu's honor!" 

Ranma instinctively pushed at the table trying to flip the chair backwards, away and beneath the blow he knew was coming. He was a heartbeat too slow.

The top of Ke Lun's staff connected with the side of his head just beneath his ear, catapulting him across the restaurant. Even as he flew, even with the pain of the attack coursing across his skull and the bright lights dancing before his vision, Ranma's mind planned.

Tuck.

Roll. 

Flip to feet.

Jump out window.

He never got the chance. Mu Se's chain wrapped around his left foot, then, pivoting on his heel, Mousse sent Ranma into the kitchen wall. 

Before he could react to the impact they were on top of him. 

Shan Pu attacked from the right, Mu Se, now wielding a steel-banded cudgel, from the left. 

Ranma saw them. He saw it all. He saw the swirling colors and patterns decorating Shan Pu's bonbori. He saw the thick bands of metal encircling the wooden shaft of Mu Se's cudgel; he even saw the faint shimmer of regret in Shan Pu's eyes.

Then he saw nothing at all.

Akane's jaw was clenched so tightly her teeth threatened to shatter inside her skell. 

The words had to be forced out.

"You. Swore. On. Your. Honor. And you attacked him?" 

Xiaoyu could only nod. Her lips were pressed tightly together forming a fine line and her eyes, though wet and brimming with tears did not-- were not allowed to cry. 

"That," Xiaoyu said in a clipped voice, tightly holding on to her control. "Was the least of my many crimes. It only gets worse."  


"Continue." Akane said.

Xiaoyu, recognizing it as a command and not a request, complied.

***

Ranma slowly opened his eyes and instantly wished he hadn't. The light from the dim, ancient bulb directly over head stabbed painfully into the back of his mind. It was just one voice in a chorus of agony though, not much to pay attention to, really.

He tried to sit up but found himself restrained. Glancing at his wrists he saw the metal band securely fastened to the metal plate upon which he was lying. Tilting his head a little he saw his ankles were similarly shackled. He gave an experimental tug on the metal cuff binding his left wrist and was only rewarded with the stinging pain of rough metal cutting into flesh. 

He nose wrinkled as a stench attacked it. 

"Eyuck." He mumbled. "Smells like rotten fish!"

"It is rotten fish Son-in-law," Ke Lun said bouncing out of the shadows. "Which means, yes, we are on a boat, and yes, it is going to China." 

Shan Pu and Mu Se silently stepped out the shadows behind the Matriarch. Shan Pu had a bonbori in one hand while Mu Se was idly fingering a large, curved, blade. Both said nothing to Ranma, merely content to stare at him and continue to play with their weapons.

"Now, Son-in-law, you will swear to me a vow." Ke Lun continued. 

"Why would I do somethin' like that, ya old maggot?" Ranma snarled back.

He stifled a curse as Ke Lun's staff cracked him on the head adding to the cacophony already inside.

"While I admit being called a maggot is something new, it is still disrespectful and you will give me respect Son-in-law."

"Earn it!" Ranma snapped. 

This earned him another blow to the skell. He didn't know how much more he could take. Already the light was getting dimmer and he was having a hard time hearing things clearly. 

"This grows tiresome Son-in-law." Ke Lun sighed. "Now, about that oath."

"I ain't swearin' nothing."

Ke Lun seemed amused by his defiance; she laughed softly.

"Oh yes, you will." Ke Lun pinned him with a ghastly smile.

"Or what? You'll send one'o your Amazons to kill my friends?" Ranma was shouting now. "Big threat, you and I both know that Shampoo is yer' best and if she's the best you got the folks back home would eat em' for lunch."

Ke Lun chuckled. "You're quite right, Son-in-law. No I would not send Shan Pu or Mu Se to harm your friends and loved ones." The amused look vanished from the Matriarch's features like magic and Ranma found himself seeing a Ke Lun he had never seen before. He looked into the twisted features of a beast. 

"I would go myself, whelp." 

Ke Lun was perched atop her staff and though still short in stature she seemed to tower over his prone form. An aura of menace seemed to spread across the room. Shan Pu involuntarily took a step backwards, her eyes wide. Oddly, Mu Se seemed unaffected; he merely stood behind Ke Lun, still fingering his sword and occasionally muttering to himself. 

"Do you really think that after hearing of your feats on Phoenix Mountain I would allow one such as you to slip from our fingers?" Ke Lun began. "With the blood of your family flowing through our tribe the Amazons future is assured! Even the Chinese government dared not oppose Saffron and if we have the power that destroyed him... The Amazon nation itself could be resurrected. I could not allow an opportunity such as that to simply melt away just because you didn't want to. However I am not foolish enough to think even I can restrain you through force, so that leaves only oaths and threats."

She paused. "If you do not swear to be Shan Pu's loyal and obedient husband I, myself, will return to Nerima!" 

Ke Lun's voice dropped low, and her scratchy, cawing, tone melted away into an ominous, soft purr that threaded across the space dividing them promising only absolute truth.

"I will kill Akane,

I will kill Nabiki,

I will kill Kasumi. I'll butcher both those pathetic excuses for fathers and allow your mother to feel the Saotome blade from the other end before she dies! Your friends, your acquaintances too; even your enemies will I slay." 

Ke Lun's voice began to grown in pitch and intensity as she went on and on, spitting out a list of blood oaths and death threats. Higher and higher her voice rose, breaking away from the quiet, deadly purr, shattering it as her words began to screech along the listeners' ears. 

"Do not think either that because your oath was made under duress it is any less binding, either. Even if you should happen to escape the village you cannot hope to reach Nerima before I. I know my homeland far better than you and would reach Japan first. When you finally returned you would be greeted by a dead world and I..."

Her voice dropped again to that lethal purr. "I would be waiting."

In an instant the sense of danger pervading the room vanished. Ke Lun now stood on her staff, no Lunger a monster, just a tiny, harmless old woman. 

"But of course," Ke Lun finished in a normal tone of voice, the very picture of reasonableness. "None of this need to occur. All you have to do is swear." She said it like she was asking to borrow a cup of sugar. 

Ranma snarled. "If you touch them I'll KILL you!"

Ke Lun nodded. "Very well. Shan Pu! Instruct the captain we are returning to Japan. Son-in-law has made his choice. Far be it from me to break my promised oath."

"NO!!" Ranma shouted. "I...I..." the words choked in his throat. 

"Yes, Son-in-law? You'll what?" Ke Lun peered down at the bound youth.

He was beaten. He may have been able to break free of these bonds but not before the old ghoul did something. Poked something, stopped him somehow and then went to carry through on her threat. 

Ranma's head slumped back onto the cold steel.

"I...swear." The whispered response echoed throughout the hull.

"What do you swear Son-in-law?" Ke Lun snapped back. 

Beaten, broken, crushed. 

Not even allowed that respite.

Curiously enough, he had no trouble now finding the strength to speak in a calm, tone of voice. 

"I swear I will be Shan Pu's loyal and obedient husband."

One last chance.

"On the condition that you and your people never return to Japan or threaten my friends and family again."

Ke Lun still looked amused. "Your bargaining posture is highly dubious, Son-in-law, and you seem to be awfully carefree with their lives." She seemed to consider it. "But if it makes you feel any better than it is so agreed."

Ke Lun turned to Shan Pu. "Great-Granddaughter, it would seem your Airen has been hurt. Tend to his wounds and give him these herbs for the pain." She handed Shan Pu a small pouch. 

"Come with me Mu Se, we have a matter to discuss."

Shan Pu knelt down beside Ranma. He turned to look at her, his eyes blazing with accusation.

"You swore on your honor, no tricks." He said quietly.

Ke Lun paused in the doorway.

Shan Pu stared back defiantly. She could feel her great-grandmother's gaze on her back. Waiting to hear how she would respond.

"This..." Shan Pu began slowly. "This no trick, Airen. This war."

With a pleased chuckle Ke Lun hopped through the portal, followed by Mu Se. 

Shan Pu followed them after giving Ranma the herbal remedy and shut the door to the hold. It slammed shut with an awful, final-sounding crash.

ALune, bound to the cold steel of the floor Ranma's mutter carried across the now empty prison. 

"Fine then. It's war."

"It took two days to reach China," Xiaoyu said. "Whenever Shan Pu went to feed Ranma, he didn't even acknowledge her existence. He'd just lay there with his eyes closed. Shan Pu told her great-grandmother of course but she merely said that 'Son-in-law is being stubborn. Do not worry, the Saotome appetite will not be denied.' And it seemed that she was right. A few hours before they made shore he asked Shan Pu for something to eat."

"And then?" Akane demanded.

"And then we returned to the village and Shan Pu escorted Ranma straight into hell."


End file.
